Germany vs Britain: Which passwords come out on top?

German internet users have the most secure passwords in the world, with Britons coming a close second, a study by Dashlane suggests.

Dashlane, password security and digital wallet specialists, revealed in a study that Britons have much stronger passwords than their US counterparts.

The research analysed a sample of 50,000 of Dashlane’s global 2.5m users.

The data shows that the UK’s average score (60.37) was almost 20 per cent higher than that of the US (51.68). In fact, the UK has the second highest score in Europe, with only Germany beating the British for online security (with an average score of 67.51).

While the news is comparatively good for British web users, passwords are still providing a headache for us all. Best practice suggests that each account should have a unique and complex password, but with the average user signed up to nearly a hundred sites, each requiring a password, the situation is becoming untenable.

“It’s very important not to underestimate the risks encountered when storing personal data online,” says Guillaume Desnoës, Head of European Markets, Dashlane. “Unfortunately, we’ve found that Britons are less protected on sites for personal use than they are when using professional software, leaving their private lives and personal information open to the threat of hackers.”

This trend is most dangerous in the personal finance and online banking, study suggests. In those fields, British users are found to have the least secure passwords.

It seems we are placing a higher value on our social media sites than on our online banking. Well, no-one wants their Facebook account hacked do they?